


Slowly

by Help__Obsessed_Artist



Category: Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Fluff and Angst, Guy is in denial, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Injury, Kyle thinks a lot, M/M, Secret Crush, Slow Death, slowly freezing to death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 15:19:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19087705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Help__Obsessed_Artist/pseuds/Help__Obsessed_Artist
Summary: Stuck on a frozen planet with low ring power and a major injury,Kyle has a lot of time to think.





	Slowly

**Author's Note:**

> Not really that graphic with violence, but Kyle is slowly freezing to death...  
> So yeah.   
> Idk why I wrote this, but there aren't many GuyKyle stories around.

It was cold. 

Kyle panted, his cheeks and throat burning from the frigid storm. Scratch cold; it was  _ freezing _ . Literally.

His ribs screamed in agony when he shifted in the snow and Kyle hissed. Part of his brain tempted the idea of just staying still; laying still in the snow where he had been thrown until someone could find him. 

But if he did that, the logical side of his brain argued, he would freeze to death faster. 

He had to find shelter somewhere… 

Kyle peered around, the wind making his eyes water and redden as they started to freeze. 

Damn. 

Nothing. 

There was nothing but white in all directions. 

Kyle turned on his side, curling into a tight ball and trying to push through the pain in his ribs. 

"Ring… Power levels?" 

"[Power levels at 4.7%.]" 

"Crap…" 

That definitely wasn't enough to get him to Oa. It would barely be enough to get him out of the heavy atmosphere. 

Kyle curled tighter on himself, teeth chattering. It was a morbid upside that he was still shivering; that meant hypothermia wasn't bad yet. 

He had been battling in the atmosphere of another planet, against some alien wizard  _ things _ who used magic. He had been about to voice to Guy that he was running low on power when one of them hit him hard in the side, breaking his skin and ribs with its large talons and sending him hurtling through a magic portal another enemy had created. 

He had fallen to the ground from over 50 feet, his body smashing into the snow, and before he could even turn around, the portal had closed. 

And he had no idea where he was. 

Kyle weighed his options. 

He couldn't fly back to Oa. He had a concussion and broken ribs. He couldn't create a shelter with his ring on such low power. He had to keep his uniform intact to avoid becoming a human popsicle. 

He had to find shelter. 

Kyle grunted, rolling onto his knees and pushing himself up with one hand, the other clutching the wound on his side. The blood was already starting to freeze, quite literally chilling him to his very core. 

Kyle squinted around. 

Still nothing. there wasn't even a rock to huddle next to… 

Kyle cursed, doubling over as another wave of pain made his arms shake. 

He was deep in the snow, almost waist deep and he blinked. He pushed his hand down into the snow, down, down, and he frowned when he felt no ground. 

The snow must've been several feet deep. 

That gave him an idea. 

A terrible, awful, probably  _ suicidal _ idea, but it was the best chance he had. 

He cursed. 

With one hand still stemming his bleeding, he began to dig, making quick work of creating a hole. The effort made him sweat, his vision swimming and the wind tearing his throat apart. 

He cursed after a minute of digging, slumping slightly. 

This wasn't getting him anywhere. 

He needed to dig faster or his body would give out. 

Kyle sighed. 

He created a large drill digger, commanding it to burrow a tunnel into the ground as quickly as possible. He felt the warmth of his suit fade for a moment while the drill worked and Kyle shuttered. 

The drill disappeared into the ground, making a narrow tunnel and Kyle stumbled in after it. 

It traveled several feet down at an arc, halting at 20 before it flickered and shattered. 

Kyle was panting from exhaustion, and he quickly curled against the deepest part of the tunnel. The wind was no longer freezing his skin off, but it was still unbearably  _ cold _ . 

"Power levels…?" His lips were chapped and bleeding now, but Kyle resisted the urge to wet them. 

"[1.3%.]" Came the voice. 

_ Bad.  _ **_Really_ ** _ bad. _

There was no way his suit would remain intact overnight. 

He cursed, bringing a hand up to tug at his hair. He curled his legs up and pressed his forehead to his knees. His hand was frozen to his side now, stuck to the bloody skin. He guessed that was okay… At least the bleeding had stopped. 

But he was probably going to die anyway… 

Fuck.

He had to conserve power  _ somehow _ … He willed his mask away. The cold immediately bit into the uncovered skin and he squeezed his eyes shut. 

_ Someone _ had to come soon. 

He had been stranded for about 30 minutes before he started digging… And everyone was still in the heat of a battle. He wasn't even sure anyone had seen him vanish. 

God… 

He didn't wanna die here. 

This wasn't how a Lantern was  _ supposed  _ to die. Freezing to death wasn't exactly a notable way to go. He supposed he would've preferred to die in battle, perhaps saving a conrad. Maybe even of old age. But not from hypothermia. 

Kyle swallowed. 

He didn't want to die alone. 

The tears started sometime after that thought entered his head. It wasn't with shaking sobs or shutters. He wasn't gasping for breath or whimpering. 

It was silent. The tears fell slowly and quietly, trailing the shape of his cheekbone and sharp jaw, before freezing. 

It hurt. 

Warm tears turned cold as Kyle shut his eyes, his eyelashes stiff with snowflakes and microscopic icicles. He was certain his lips were blue, and his skin was starting to harden as the sweat on his body froze. 

When they found him, he would be like porcelain, as delicate as glass. His skin would probably crack when they tried to move him. Perhaps his bones would crumble, brittle and frozen, causing his dead body to fall to pieces. Like he had never even existed at all. 

Who would be the one to find him? He suspected it would be Guy. They were partners after all. Maybe it would be Hal or John that found his frozen corpse. 

Would they mourn? Surely they would. 

He hoped they could move on. 

Maybe they would never find him. The ring would slip off as soon as he stopped letting the frigid air burn his lungs. As soon as his heart froze like the tears on his cheeks and he faded away. It would find a new master, perhaps someone who would give the Corps pride when they died. 

He would be untraceable when it did. His body would remain buried in this frozen grave he dug for himself. And he would be marked as killed in action. 

He wondered if they would hold a funeral for him on Earth. Who would come? Would they bury an empty coffin? Or just give him a headstone? Would anyone visit his grave?

He wondered if Guy could handle losing another partner. 

He felt his uniform fade away, replaced with a thin shirt and jeans.

Out of battery. 

Out of will. 

Out of time. 

He was going to die. 

And maybe… Maybe that would be okay...

Kyle's head was starting to feel fuzzy, and his body felt lethargic with sudden warmth. 

He frowned. He had just been freezing a moment ago… Hadn't he? He was certain he had just been shivering. 

He began to forget where he was… It was dark so Kyle kept his eyes closed. It was so hard to try and get them open anyway. 

He must be at home. Yeah. It was probably just a bad dream, and he was safe in his warm bed. 

Kyle was lying on his side now, and thought groggily about the lack of pillow and blanket, and was his mattress always this lumpy? 

He pushed those thoughts out of his head when he yawned. He felt like he should get up, do something… But it was so warm and he was so tired… 

_ Hypothermia _ . 

A small part of his brain screeched the word at him, but he didn't listen. 

It couldn't be hypothermia, he was warm now. He would wake up in a couple hours. Maybe he would see if Guy wanted to go out for lunch or something. 

Maybe he would ask Guy out. 

He hummed. 

He should sleep for now. 

Then maybe… When he woke up… He would have a clear head. 

* * *

Guy tore through the atmosphere of the frozen planet like a bullet, shielding his eyes against a hail of ice particles in the clouds. The planet's surface was covered in white. It might have seemed enchanting, but high winds and cloudy skies made the entire planet feel foreboding. 

Guy landed hard in the snow, scowling when his feet sunk up to his knees. Hal and John were close behind him, but still a couple minutes out. 

He commanded a map of the planet, eyes trained hard on the blinking dot that indicated Kyle's location. 

He should be right  _ here _ . 

Guy whipped his head around, scanning every inch of the barren horizon. 

" _ RAYNER _ !" 

He hollered above the raging wind, but it was no use. The only hint of color on the planet was  _ him _ . 

" _ KYLE _ !!!" 

Guy cursed as the wind whipped at his hair, making his eyes and cheeks  _ burn _ . If Kyle had been exposed to this wind for too long… He would be dead. He shielded his face, glaring daggers at the ground. 

Kyle went missing an hour ago, transported through some portal… It took them 45 fucking minutes to win the battle, then fifteen to locate Kyle. The second they found his ring, Guy took off like a missle. 

But Kyle wasn't here. 

And there Guy was; standing in the middle of a backwater shit-hole of a planet, staring at the fucking- 

… ground… 

Guy straightened suddenly, his body shooting up to hover several feet above the snow. He created a huge green hand, immediately using it to dig. 

One pile of snow removed to reveal a tunnel and Guy felt a surge of energy. 

_ Kyle, you brilliant son of a bitch. _

The construct moved fast, digging deeper and deeper and Guy started to grow more and more manic. How fucking deep did he dig?! 

His ring beeped suddenly, informing him that his next movement would hit a life form. 

The construct vanished instantly and Guy landed, trying not to stumble in the snow. 

He dropped to his knees, digging frantically. 

The snow fell away to reveal a small cave-like hole in the wall of soft ice. 

The breath whooshed out of him in an instant as his chest constricted. 

Kyle was curled in a ball on his side, his skin white and covered in flakes of ice. His ring had run out of juice, leaving Kyle in his civilian clothes. 

Guy practically  _ dove _ forward, hands cupping Kyle's cheeks. He wiped flakes of ice from the skin and felt his gut twist. He frowned slightly when the alien blood on his hands smeared over Kyle's frozen face, but he brushed it aside. There wasn't really time to worry about being sanitary. 

"Kyle?! Talk to me buddy, wake up!" 

Kyle was breathing slowly, dangerously slowly, and Guy noticed his left hand frozen to his right side, covered in thick icy blood. 

_ Fuck _ . 

He turned his attention back to Kyle's face. His skin and lips were cracked and blue, eyelashes covered in snowflakes, which would actually be pretty, if it weren't for the fact that Kyle was currently freezing to death. 

"Fuck, Kyle, wake up!!!" 

Nothing. 

Guy cursed, pulling Kyle close to his chest and rubbing his back frantically. 

He  _ had _ to get Kyle to wake up. 

"Come on buddy…" 

The ice covering Kyle's skin was starting to fall off, leaving purplish red where the frozen skin tore. 

**_Yikes_ ** **…**

Guy tried to wrap himself around the smaller man as best he could, thanking his lucky stars he radiated heat like a furnace. 

It took a couple minutes, each second making Guy that much more nervous that Kyle wouldn't wake up. But he was still  _ breathing… _

And then there was a noise. 

Kyle let out a small whine, like a hiss, and burrowed his head into Guy's neck. 

"Kyle? Can you hear me? I need ya to wake up." 

Kyle only muttered in response, his body starting to tremble with shivers. 

"Kyle, I got a battery here. Need ya to charge your ring. Can you do that?" 

"C-C… C-Cold…" Was his response. 

"I know bud…" Guy moved to summon the battery when Kyle latched onto him tighter, trying to keep him there. 

Guy swallowed. 

"Kyle… You gotta move. Gotta get your blood flowin'." 

Kyle whined louder, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane and trying to curl closer to Guy's chest. 

"L-L-Let m-me s-s… s-sleep-p…" 

"Nu-uh. No way. You sleep, you don't wake up. And I ain't draggin' your icy corpse back to Oa. My partner doesn't go out because of frostbite, so move your ass, kid." 

"P-Pu… P-P-Please…?" He whispered and Guy  _ almost _ considered giving in. 

But Kyle was losing blood, the gash on his side warm enough now to start dripping again, and his uniform would help stem it on the way back to Oa. 

"Work with me here, kid. You're leakin' buckets." 

He heard a whistle and craned his head back to see two green blurs, coming in fast. 

Hal and John landed easily in the snow, dropping down into the large hole Guy dug. Hal frowned when he nearly stumbled but looked hard at Kyle. 

"How bad?" 

"Big gash on his right side. He doesn't wanna move, though. His ring's outta juice." 

John stepped forward, summoning a battery, crouching and holding it up for Kyle. 

Kyle hissed in pain when he moved reluctantly, his hand shaking unevenly with tremors as he held it out. Guy steadied his wrist, bringing it to the lantern and green flashed. 

Kyle's skin started to steam slightly as the ice on his skin melted off with the life-preserving heat of the uniform and Guy sighed. 

He reached down, prying Kyle's hand from his side and wincing when he whimpered in pain. 

**_God_ ** _ , this must suck… _

“Sorry kid…” 

Guy constructed a glowing bandage, commanding it to carefully weave around Kyle’s abdomen and stem the bleeding. Kyle was still shivering, his head limp on Guy’s shoulder and he tried not to move. He could feel Kyle’s breath on his neck, coming out in labored puffs of vapor and tickling his skin. 

It made his stomach flop nervously and he frowned, finishing the bandaging before steeling himself. 

He picked Kyle up under his knees and back, trying not to blush when Kyle wrapped his arms tightly around his neck, burying his face into Guy’s shoulder. He swallowed, frowning further at how much Kyle was still shivering and holding him tighter before turning around. 

Hal and John were both looking at him; Hal with a small half-lidded smirk, and John with a knowing stare. 

Guy blinked at them. 

He gritted his teeth, stomping past them before moving to fly out of the hole. 

“ _ Shuddup _ .” 


End file.
